FBI partner data stolen

NEARLY 180 passwords belonging to members of an Atlanta-based FBI partner organisation have been stolen and leaked to the internet.

The logins belonged to members of the local chapter of InfraGard, a public-private partnership devoted to sharing information about threats to US physical and internet infrastructure, the chapter’s president told reporters.

“Someone did compromise the website,” InfraGard Atlanta Members Alliance president Paul Farley said.

“We do not at this time know how the attack occurred or the method used to reveal the passwords.”

Copies of the passwords — which appear to include users from the US army, cybersecurity organisations and communications firms — were posted to the internet by the online hacking collective Lulz Security.

Lulz Security claimed it was acting in response to a recent report that the Pentagon was considering whether to classify some cyberattacks as acts of war.

The FBI said it was aware of the incident and that steps were being taken to mitigate the damage.